background: deltamethrin (dm) is a synthetic pyrethroid insecticide that can elicit neurotoxicity, and lead to apoptosis. there is accumulating evidence that oleuropein (oe) has anti-apoptotic effect. this study aimed at determining the dm toxicity and anti-apoptotic effect of oe pretreatment in cerebellar purkinje neurons. materials and methods: rats were randomly divided into four groups as f...

Mechanisms of cerebellar motor learning are still poorly understood. The standard Marr-Albus-Ito theory posits that learning involves plasticity at the parallel fiber to Purkinje cell synapses under control of the climbing fiber input, which provides an error signal as in classical supervised learning paradigms. However, a growing body of evidence challenges this theory, in that additional site...

A major conceptual consideration in both endogenous and therapeutic central nervous system repair is how damaged (or senescent) neurons, given their often enormously complex and extensive network of connections, can possibly be replaced. The recent observation of fusion of circulating bone marrow cells with, in particular, cerebellar Purkinje cells, as well as the subsequent formation of stable...

Mesenchymal stem cells have been proven to be potentially effective in the treatment of a large variety of diseases, including neurodegenerative disorders. Of these, cerebellar ataxia is a group of disorders characterized by the degeneration of the cerebellum, particularly the Purkinje cells, responsible for motor coordination and control of the motor functions. To analyze the possibility of us...

The auxiliary voltage-gated calcium channel subunit β4 supports targeting of calcium channels to the cell membrane, modulates ionic currents and promotes synaptic release in the central nervous system. β4 is abundant in cerebellum and its loss causes ataxia. However, the type of calcium channels and cerebellar functions affected by the loss of β4 are currently unknown. We therefore studied the ...

The toxic effects of morphine sulfate in the adult cerebral cortex and one-day neonatal cerebellum have been studied. This study was carried out to evaluate the effect of maternal morphine exposure during gestational and lactation period on the Purkinje cells and cerebellar cortical layer in 18- and 32-day-old mice offspring. Thirty female mice were randomly allocated into cases and controls. I...

The patterning of the embryonic cerebellum is vital to establish the elaborate zone and stripe architecture of the adult. This review considers early stages in cerebellar Purkinje cell patterning, from the organization of the ventricular zone to the development of Purkinje cell clusters-the precursors of the adult stripes.

The rhythmic heart beat is coordinated by electrical impulses transmitted from Purkinje fibers of the cardiac conduction system. During embryogenesis, the impulse-conducting cells differentiate from cardiac myocytes in direct association with the developing endocardium and coronary arteries, but not with the venous system. This conversion of myocytes into Purkinje fibers requires a paracrine in...

BACKGROUND Purkinje cells (PCs) comprise the most distal component of the cardiac conduction system, and their unique electrophysiological properties and the anatomic complexity of the Purkinje fiber network may account for the prominent role these cells play in the genesis of various arrhythmic syndromes. METHODS AND RESULTS Differential transcriptional profiling of murine Purkinje fibers an...

Purkinje fibers in mammalian hearts are known to comprise the following three groups depending on their structure: group I found commonly in ungulates, group II in humans, monkeys and dogs, and group III in rodents. The aim of the present study was to document precisely the cytoarchitecture of a network of Purkinje fibers in different species by light and electron microscopy. Light microscopy o...